Common Mistakes People Make With Their Personal Finances

Personal Note: One striking thing about this article is how Shantel made it clear right from the start that attaining financial security does not have anything to do with our individual levels of income. A lot has to do with our mindset and the in-depth understanding of our current financial situation (where we are), our desired personal finance goal (where we want to be) and the plan and strategy we have, in a well laid out manner, on how we intend to achieve the desired goal. She also reminds us that, if we work toward achieving our financial security goals appropriately, we would always be able to enjoy a certain degree of fun and joy that comes with staying the course.

Common Mistakes People Make With Their Personal Finances
By Shantel Haines

Common Mistakes People Make With Their Personal Finances

Talking about personal finances is not a subject that most people enjoy. The reality is people generally assume that personal money difficulties are from a lack of money to work with. However, money management and handling proves to be more of a challenge than not actually having enough money.

It may surprise you to know there are as many high income earners that have challenges managing their money as there are those in the smaller income categories. Further, happiness and success in dealing with money have little to do with the amount of money but, rather what is expected and wanted from that money in terms of what it brings to your life.

What are the common mistakes that many people make with regard to managing their personal money?

This includes the practical difficulties with:

Organization and Structure

Many people don't have structure in how they manage their personal finances. There needs to be a set direction and plan for how money will be used now and in the future. It sounds good to talk about this, but many individuals do not know how to tangibly have a workable set of activities that will keep them moving forward and having a practical set of good money practices in dealing with their money. Only with structure and organization, can a good money plan be adhered to and the benefits realized. Once these personal money practices are in place and tailored for the individual, then momentum can take over and it becomes part of who you are and in your actions in dealing with your money.

Money inflows and outflows

Knowing exactly what money that you have coming in and leaving your "money reality" is again not something in a tangible sense that people know how to deal with. They may know what that is (or not) but how to do this is something else. Think of it like using a calculator, it is convenient and obviously more efficient, but you still should know HOW it is computing and arriving at its answer. Can you answer why you need to know your cash flows each month? Do you know what your net worth is? These answers are the keys to being able to put together a true understanding of what you have been doing with your money and what behaviours you may need to change.

Money Intention

The realization that money is not meant to be all used at once. Some of it is for your current use, but an amount must be left for near-future use and then a portion for further-future use. Preserving and safekeeping your money for the time ahead together with using money for cultivating strength and fun in your overall life is important and essential for you to be able to work with your money. Having a specific method of understanding what you want from your money and clarity about your intentions for your money, are key.

Confidence

Building your money confidence is at the center of actually working with it. Becoming grounded with your relationship with money and knowing how to approach the whole question of money is rooted in how confident that you are. You must build your confidence about money through enhancing your money mindset and character. This is achieved with allowing yourself to think differently and to adjust your thinking that will free you to the point of building confidence with your money.

Keeping the Fun

Your personal money is not just about earning money and paying bills! There is supposed to be a certain degree of fun and joy that comes from achieving and having what you want for the money that you earn. Coming to terms with what that is, how to obtain this and organizing yourself to have what you want will help you to work towards what you believe will make you happy. Often times, people work for things they don't want while ignoring or not being truthful to what they really do want. Making decisions, being in tune to your desires and having a plan will greatly help you to stay true to your purpose and eliminate that which you don't want with your money and your life.

Dealing with your personal money can be one of the most intimidating and frightening subjects for people to deal with.

However, it need not be if you learn how to:

• Work with your personal money inflows and outflows
• Preserve and safe keep your money for the future
• Create your money intention for strength and for fun
• Enhance your money mindset and character
• Build your money confidence

To your personal money confidence...

By coming face-to-face with your money, you can look forward to starting fresh - cleaning up old habits and embarking on a new path for yourself, with renewed hope and optimism. http://goo.gl/IuojZO

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Setting Realistic Financial Goals

Personal Note: Personally, the wisdom Dan shared in this article is coming at an appropriate time. While a number of us have often succeeded at being disciplined as regards our personal finances – specifically in the area of spending less than our incomes and paying ourselves first – once in a while, certain “essential” demands challenge that healthy habit. This article helps us in maintaining our focus and serves as a reminder that, with determination and continuous learning, we can steady our gaits and keep ourselves firmly on our individual paths to financial security.

Setting Realistic Financial Goals
By Dan Annweiler

Money is one of the greatest concerns for the vast majority of people. We all need money to survive, to eat, dress ourselves, pay the bills and have some fun. When money is not enough, it's very easy to slide on the descendant path of debt, without too many possibilities to escape the trap once we are caught inside. Few people who are in financial trouble know that there is a way out, but it requires a good personal discipline and the understanding of the personal finance management principles and rules. This article contains a few tips that might prove useful, so keep on reading.

The first step in seeing yourself out of trouble is to estimate how big the trouble is in the first place. You need to create a spreadsheet containing your monthly net income and your expenditures. Be as detailed as you can, because it is important to see exactly why you can't make ends meet and where you could possibly cut from in order to be able to recover.

The main rule of a healthy family budget is to always spend less money than you make. You should setup a savings account and direct 5%-10% of your earnings into it prior to paying any bills. Even 2% of your monthly income could be something if you stick to this habit long enough. The key thing here is to set this money aside before spending on everything else, otherwise your best laid plans won't work, especially if you are already in trouble.

Entertainment is good, but it shouldn't throw you into even bigger debt. Budget for some inexpensive entertainment every month, but consider cooking with friends rather than going to expensive restaurants, for instance.

When you make your family budget, don't forget to include expenses that occur only once or a few times a year. Insurance, car maintenance or medical expenses may fall into this category. Don't overlook them, because they are important and they will ruin your budget if you don't expect and plan for them.

If you don't make enough money to cover all your current expenses, consider what you could be cutting without suffering too much. You may be able to take the bus instead of driving your car, for instance, or maybe you could ride your bicycle. When shopping for groceries, you could watch and take advantage of special discounts, promotions or coupons. When you are at home, maybe you have the habit of keeping the lights on in all rooms, even if nobody stays there. Consider switching off what you don't need. It's good for your finances, as well as for the environment.

Be careful with your money and you'll see getting rid of problems is not an impossible task.

We offer personal finance tips and ideas that will help you improve your finances, manage your debt, increase your credit scores and save money on TV and telephone services.

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People Don't Plan To Fail, They Fail To Plan

Personal Note: This is one of those articles that sort of jolt you from financial slumber. In a very pragmatic and candid manner, Ken reminds us that the future is certain and it approaches without caring whether we are prepared for it or not. The statistics of individuals that fail to plan is just staggering, but it is a wake-up call that we need to take the bull by the horns and start, or remain persistent in, taking those necessary steps toward our financial security.

People Don't Plan To Fail, They Fail To Plan
By Ken Moraif

Check out these statistics: Seventy-two percent of Americans, once they reach the age of sixty-five, depend on Social Security, charity and family for income. Seventy-two percent! Twenty-three percent have to continue working. Only four percent are financially secure, and one percent are wealthy. That means ninety-five percent of people in the United States, the richest country that has ever existed, either have to continue working or rely on charity, Social Security and family for their income once they hit sixty-five. That's mind-boggling!

I don't think those people planned to fail; many of them just failed to plan. If you don't want to be in that ninety-five percent, I suggest you start making your plan today, beginning with these five steps:

Step 1 - Determine your goals. Ask yourself where you want to be in five years. Then write it down. A goal is a dream you put into writing. There is amazing power in writing something down.

Step 2 - Gather up all of your investment information. You may have accounts spread all over the place. Figure out where everything is. Get all your records together. Get organized so you can determine where you are financially right now.

Step 3 - Consult with a professional. There are some things in life that are way too important for you to do by yourself. You don't perform surgery on yourself, right? Professionals can tell you where you're weak, where you're strong. Seek advice from financial advisors, tax professionals, and people in the legal profession. Even the best athletes in the world have coaches that help them. The same principle should apply when it comes to your finances.

Step 4 - Decide to pay yourself first. If you're still working, you should be maxing out all the opportunities you have to save money. Do it. Take that money away from yourself before you get your greedy paws on it. You'll start to see your account grow, and as it does, you'll be motivated to save more. It's a wonderful thing and you should do it. Now.

Step 5 - Review your plan once a year. Look at where you are, not only based on where you were a year ago, but in regards to the five-year goal you made in Step 1.

If you start planning now, I think there's a better chance you'll be in the five percent of people who are financially secure after sixty-five. And that's where I want everyone to be. I'd like to convert the whole country to the idea of planning to increase their chances of being financially secure.

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Is Saving Your Money Really The Way To Build Your Wealth?

Is Saving Your Money Really The Way To Build Your Wealth?
By Omar Best

Many people, including myself, were trained to believe there is only one way to live our life. Many of us were led to believe that you should:

• Go to college so you can secure a good job.
• Once you secure that good job you should make your supervisor happy so you can get a bigger paycheck.
• Save your money.
• Then retire.
• Receive your retirement check.
• Die.

If people choose to follow this path, then that is their decision. The major issue here is that many people were only taught one way to live their life. Ironically, some individuals will say that the so-called elite or top 1% intended for it to be that way. The strange thing is most of the super wealthy have decided to go about their life in a way that goes against the grain.

Of course, as much as they may want to, the rich have not uncovered a way to live forever. But you better believe they are trying to figure it out.

Continuing on, as a youngster in high school we were not told to become entrepreneurs, invest in stock, or invest in real estate. We did not have any investment classes or business classes available to us in high school. As a result, you have many people who have no idea of how to start a business or the different investment opportunities available to them.

So what is it that the rich do that is so different?

The wealthy do many things differently from the average person, but the significant difference is that wealthy individuals choose to invest money versus saving it. The rich recognize that they can make more investing their money instead of putting it in a bank account. In spite of all that, if there are not any good investments out there, then they will most likely consider putting their money in a low interest savings account. However, the wealthy are always searching for investment opportunities that will earn them the best return for their money. When they uncover that money making investment, the cash in that low interest account is coming out.

Here is the difference in the thinking of a wealthy individual and the average individual.

The average individual would rather save $100 a month in a retirement account for 25 to 30 years and then start collecting their pension check of $3000 month at 67 years old when they retire.

The rich also views investing as a risk, but they look at investing as an opportunity to make more money versus losing money. Rich people would rather invest $6,000 in a venture that will earn them $100 a month in cash flow for the next 10 years. In addition to that, they realize that the venture or investment will be increasing in value.

If you truly want to be wealthy, then shouldn't you try to do what the wealthy do? If you wanted to be a good football player, you would not emulate Micheal Jordan.

With that said, you should consider learning about your investment alternatives outside of your pension plan and bank savings account. You really need to understand that there are other investment alternatives other than a simple bank savings account like real estate and stock investing.

Lastly, when you begin to discover these alternative investment vehicles your family and friends will try to discourage you. Many people will advise you that these investments are dangerous and that you will lose your money. These same people will tell you that you should continue to live the way that you are living and that money is not everything.

Ultimately, you have to make the choice on whether you will find out about other types of investment vehicles or not. However, you need to recognize that in order to change your financial status you will have to change the way you think about finances.

Learn more ways to invest your money at http://howtobeastockmarketplayer.com/2012/03/stop-letting-the-banks-have-all-the-fun/

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How Managing Your Energy Can Make Managing Your Money Easier

How Managing Your Energy Can Make Managing Your Money Easier
By Frederick W. James MD

Managing your money well requires you to manage your energy and your emotions well, we all know that. How much harder is it for you to resist the temptation to overspend or to stay committed to your daily personal finance planning habits when you're physically exhausted? On the other hand, how much easier is it for you to remain hopeful and enthusiastic about your financial situation and practice good spending habits when you have a lot of energy and focus?

Considering this, let's look at some things you can do to ensure that you have all the energy you need to stay committed to your plan for creating financial freedom.

Sometimes Less is More

If you're working extra hours to earn more money, it's important to consider the impact on your ability to be productive and to do the best job possible. There are times when you can do more and more before the good old law of diminishing returns starts to chip away at your ability to get the best results. Your body needs time to rest, to relax and to refocus, that is if you want to live a long and healthy life.

This downtime is beneficial to evaluating your progress and reworking your personal finance planning, a key activity that I teach my coaching clients. So the first thing to ask yourself is... how are you using your energy, and are you giving yourself the time needed for recharging?

The Great Energy Paradox

I doubt I have to sell you on the benefit of good exercise. Do you know why many people avoid exercise? Is it because they don't have the energy, or because they don't have the time? Ironically, this is the very reason why you need to commit fifteen to thirty minutes a day to cardiovascular exercise or strength training. The more you do this, the more energy you'll have, the more focused you'll be and the more you'll get out of the time that you have.

Eating Healthy is the Best Way to Spend less Money

Eating healthy is another one of those paradoxical things that people don't do because they either don't have the time or don't have the money. It might interest you that the leading cause of personal bankruptcy is medical bills, and a poor diet is certainly an invitation for health problems. Perhaps not right away, but eventually poor eating habits will catch up, and when they do you'll find that they've been collecting "compound interest" the whole time.

So if you want to make sure you have the energy and the willpower to stick with your personal finance planning commitments and to manage your money well, follow these simple tips. You'll be glad that you did.

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Developing A Life Plan To Live Without Money

Personal Note: Terry, in this article, could be taken as a pessimist, but, in actual sense, I believe he is only being pragmatic since we don’t always choose life’s battles. No one prays to be in a seemingly hopeless financial situation, but it’s a possibility. However, the beauty of success is that it isn’t primarily dependent on life’s circumstances but on how we react to them. In short, this article gives us an insight into how we could “thrive” during extremely trying financial times - as that would probably be the only way to live to fight another day.

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Terry_Phong]Terry Phong

Times are tough and it got me to thinking, how would I survive without money? Do I have a life plan to survive when all sources of income are no longer available? These are some tough questions to ask one self. Just how prepared are we when tragedy strikes?

The best defense is preparing a good offense for if indeed we find ourselves without an income. You can start implementing the ideas that will help you conserve your resources and begin saving today. You do not have to wait until your family's income is gone before you begin.

Think simple. What do you need to survive, food right? Gardening or growing your own food is how people did it before super markets came along. The ability to harvest your own crop full of free vegetables is a tremendous savings. It may not be free at first, there is that initial investment but once you get past that, you will have a blissful bounty season after season.

You can learn all about gardening through books at your free local public library. Technical advances in gardening have allowed people to grow more even if space is limited by using the square foot gardening method. You can also grow vegetables in large containers, and buckets.

There are many benefits to gardening. It is not only fun but is also a form of physical activity.
You get a certain joy when you are eating food that you have grown your self. Get your children involved by letting them help to plant seeds and pull weeds. This is an excellent way to teach them about responsibility and contributing to the family. Planting a garden now will help you to survive later should your family income disappear. Gardening will help you build both skills and memories for a lifetime.

People from days of old knew how to get by with very little because they understood the concept of preserving. You simply save and use what you have. People applied this concept to food by canning and freezing the excess, mainly the leftover from their harvest. Canning is not just limited to vegetables. You can also can soups, stews, and even meats. This will serve you well for when there is little money to buy food. Once again, you can use your local library to research more on canning. There are even free resources such as freecycle.com that will give you free canning supplies.

Depending on where you live, homesteading can really help in becoming self-sufficient. Having a chicken and a rooster will provide you with eggs that you can eat or sell. Livestock is not always feasible if you live in the city but the benefits of raising your own chickens to gather your own eggs are much greater when you do not have an income.

What did people do to get what they wanted before currency came along? They traded things, also known as bartering. You simply exchange a good or a service you wanted for something else you want. A good example of this would be fixing your neighbor's car in exchange for food from his garden.

There is a website called "One Red Paper Clip.com" where this one person traded a red paper clip all the way up to getting a house. You can check out the amazing story yourself. It just goes to show what you can do when you look for ways to be creative. A word of caution though, just be smart when bartering and do keep a record of your transaction. Just because you are not using money does not mean you are exempt from your taxes. Uncle Sam will still want to know how you acquire your stuff.

It is a very scary thought to many to have to think about surviving with little or no money. However, when push comes to shove we do need to find a way to survive. I hope that none of us have to experience such hardship but the truth be known there are many who have no choice. If we do not develop a life plan to live without money now, we may find ourselves as another victim instead of being a victor in life's situations.

About the Author:

Terry Phong has a background in Human Development and loves people in general. To get more information on personal development for success follow the link => [http://inspirationallifeplancoaching.com/]http://inspirationallifeplancoaching.com/.

2009

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Developing-A-Life-Plan-To-Live-Without-Money&id=5176150] Developing A Life Plan To Live Without Money

Personal Finance Advice You Can Use

Personal Note: In this short but helpful article, Nikky shares with us “some great tips” that will definitely assist us in improving our personal finance. The tips aren’t ones we’ve probably not heard about on several occasions, but constantly reminding ourselves of them would go a long way in keeping us focused.

By : nikky Howard

The topic of personal finance is not a popular topic with most people. Most of us are struggling to get control over our personal finances and it is a losing battle. However, there is hope for even the most lost among us. There is plenty of personal finance advice out there and all it takes is reading some that advice and putting it to work to begin down the road to control over your personal financial situation.
The following are some great tips in a variety of areas of personal finance:

- Set spending limits. Give yourself an allowance to curb unnecessary spending throughout the week.

- Save for large expenses. Set a goal to save for a large expense, that way you know you can afford it and will not end up draining your bank account to make the purchase.

- Prioritize your spending. Learn to identify what you must have, what you need and what you want and prioritize in that order.

- Pay your bills on time. This eliminates late fees which can add up over time.

- Track your spending habits. This will help you identify wasteful spending so you can make a positive change.

- Look for savings everywhere. Shop at dollar stores, join discount clubs and use coupons.

- Always shop around before making a large purchase. Compare prices and look for the best deal.

- Save. No matter what start a savings plan. If the only thing you can do is save change then that is at least a start. If you can afford more then add it to your budget.

- Invest smartly. Know yourself when making investments. Learn about your investing personality so you feel comfortable with your investments.

- Stay on top of investments. Do not just hand your money over to a broker. Keep track of your investments and make sure you are always in loop about anything going on with them.

- Know when to get professional help. If you are in a financial crisis seek help. There are plenty of companies out there who will help you for free to get your finances back on track.

Your personal finances are important. Do not let them slip out of your control. Avoid living beyond your means and letting your finances run your life. When you get control over them you will find you are much happier and that you feel as if you can spend without worrying.

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